Reviving a dead Apple remote

Reader Greg Wills is thinking of pulling the plug on some well-used gadgets before their time. He writes:

I have several old Apple remote controls—the white ones. I hear they work with today’s Apple gear but all of mine are dead. Is there anything I can do to revive them?

Sure. These things are battery operated and, while it’s not obvious, you can change those batteries.

Take a close look at the bottom of the remotes and you’ll see a small round dimple. This isn’t a decoration but rather a hint that if you apply pressure to that spot, something helpful will happen. In this case, the spring-loaded battery tray will pop out. However, I’ve yet to make one sproing out with just the pressure of a well-placed finger.

Depress the dimple to pop out the battery tray

Instead, grab a paper clip, straighten out one end, and address the dimple with that end. Ploink, out comes the tray. Inside you’ll find a 3 volt lithium battery (model CR2032). These batteries are common enough that you should be able to find them wherever batteries are sold for well under a buck a piece.

Christopher Breen Senior Editor, Macworld

Chris has covered technology and media since the latter days of the Reagan Administration. In addition to his journalistic endeavors, he's a professional musician in the San Francisco Bay Area.More by Christopher Breen